Based on purely anecdotal evidence, the common post-show consensus is that the 2025 Grammys were the best in many years on nearly every level: The freshness of the performances, the fittingness of the winners, the heartfelt nature of its efforts to raise funds for Los Angeles wildfire relief, and to an unprecedented degree, the righting of some longstanding wrongs, notably the Recording Academy’s checkered history with Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and the Weeknd.

While nearly every presenter on the show referenced the “13,000 voters” who decided the winners — presumably to highlight the enormous number of opinions that are taken into account, and also as a way of publicly dispelling notions of smoke-filled rooms and self-interested machinations — there’s little question that we’re seeing a Recording Academy that has changed dramatically from the haughty, out-of-touch one of two decades ago.

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